Mr. Maurice Connor, of South Hill, Anguilla’s second commercial pilot with the former Valley Air Service airline, has been honoured for his outstanding work alongside the founder, the late Captain Clayton Lloyd, and the other pilots who served with them.
The ceremony, on Saturday, April 7, on the airport’s lawn, was the brainchild of Mr. Cardigan Gumbs of The Forest who organised the event to commemorate Mr. Connor’s 76th birthday which fell on March 28 this year. In the years of its operations , from 1964 to 1977, Mr. Gumbs provided mechanical and maintenance services for Valley Air Service for which he had, and still has, an emotionally high regard and dedication – as well as for the late captain after whom the airport is now named. Mr. Gumbs, together with his family, a member of whom is a pilot, involved Mr. Hulia Carty Jn., also a former Valley Air Service employee, in the holding of the event. Carty also chaired the proceedings – a responsibility which he ably performed.
Among those attending the ceremony were former Wallblake Airport and other Valley Air Service employees, including Mrs. Marlene Brooks who served as an Air Traffic Control Officer, and Mrs. Evadney Richardson who was in charge of the flights scheduling administration.
Mr. Connor, who spends much time in St. Maarten, was flown to Anguilla for the occasion, accompanied by a number of pilots, media representatives and friends. He was accorded a resounding welcome when he arrived at the tent where a considerable large crowd awaited him. Among those who escorted him was his long-time friend and colleague, Chief Minister, Mr. Victor Banks.
Mr. Banks congratulated both Cardigan Gumbs and Mr. Carty for organising the event and the events that were previously held. “This shows that we really appreciate the pioneers in all walks of life,” he stated. “Anguilla has distinguished itself as a centre of transportation, over the years, going back to the sloops that were built and the captains that travelled between Anguilla and Santo Domingo as well as Trinidad, Puerto Rico, St. Kitts and all over the region doing trade.
“The airline industry started way back in the early 1960s and my cousin, Clayton Lloyd, was at the very beginning. His key partner has been always Mr. Maurice Connor and the two of them, with all their other associates and colleagues were the ones who created the opportunities for Anguillians to travel. In particular, the main port of call was St. Thomas in the US Virgin Islands where a number of Anguillians have travelled to make a living. It was convenient for Anguillians that we had an airline to do that and dedicated to us. This is not like today when you almost have to be like Columbus – travelling east to get west or west to get east. In those days, it was just a matter of coming to the airport and sometimes you didn’t have to have money.”
Mr. Banks continued: “We have already had a moment of silence for those casualties of the trade and relatives of ours who passed on. They were able to transport our families to the Virgin Islands, and other places, so that they could make a living. We were able to survive because of remittances from abroad, so we are all a part of that experience and we should always remember that.
“I am grateful that Cardigan Gumbs and all the members of the team were able to put on this event, but today this is about Maurice who has been a pioneer in the industry. Unlike the father of Anguilla’s aviation, Mr. Clayton Lloyd, they both continued to do other things. They were critical in the beginning of the tourism industry. Mr. Lloyd started Corito Villas and Mr. Connor started car rental services and villas as well; and they continued to be a part of that experience in their retirement and having gone on.” (Mr. Lloyd died on December 24, 1977 when the plane he was flying from St. Maarten crashed on its way to Anguilla. All seven persons on board were killed.)
Mr. Banks added: “We are here today to celebrate and to give thanks for the lives of all those persons who have passed on; all those who are still with us; as well as Mr. Maurice Connor and his contribution – and wish him a happy birthday.” Mr. Banks also took the opportunity to acknowledge the presence of the late Mr. Lloyd’s daughter, Lisa, and his grandson, Clayton Jr.
Mr. Curtis Richardson, Minister of Communications and Transport, joined in commending Mr. Connor for his significant contribution to the history of aviation in Anguilla. He was pleased that the former respected pilot was a member of his Road South constituency and had distinguished himself by being the second a commercial pilot of Valley Air Service. The Minister also thought that it was a commendable effort for the ceremony, commemorating Mr. Connor’s service to Anguilla, to have been held in his honour.
During the ceremony, Mr. Carty, the chairman, recalled that since Mr Clayton Lloyd and Mr. Maurice Connor, there were about forty other Anguillian pilots who followed them. “I think we still can continue to boast about having the most pilots in the Caribbean region. We have Anguillian pilots flying aircraft from the little Aztec plane up to the 380 airbus,” he observed. Mr. Carty added that he is hoping to assist Mr. Gumbs one day in realising his dream of a museum to commemorate Anguilla’s aviation and shipping history.
Responding to the ceremony in his honour, Mr. Connor expressed gratitude to Mr. Gumbs for organising the event and was pleased to see so many persons in attendance. He recalled some of his most notable memories of his flight career with Valley Air Service, and some of the challenges he experienced and mastered. He was proud to have been a popular black Anguillian pilot who had brought much honour to Anguilla not only by his flying skills, but the fact that he was able to handle some basic, but very important, technical services on his assigned Islander aircraft when necessary. He told a story of having one time been mistaken as the baggage boy by a couple he flew to St. Maarten from St. Thomas.
Another experience was when one of the engines of his Islander cut out in mid-air. “I was coming from St. Thomas, three days after my aircraft was serviced in Puerto Rico, and I lost one of my engines west of Sombrero. I did everything to keep the plane in the air. I levelled it off and got it to climb slowly and I kept coming to Anguilla. I called Juliana Airport in St. Maarten. I also called the Airport in Anguilla and said I needed a clear runway because I only had one engine. When I landed in Anguilla, I got calls from LIAT, WINAIR, private pilots wondering how I got the aircraft to fly with one engine. I said all the things that were being said before, that a loaded Islander cannot fly without one engine, are not true. I told them that I flew the plane from Dog Island to Anguilla and did not lose any altitude. As a matter of fact I climbed and it was a perfect fight.”
Mr. Connor continued: “I was at a restaurant in St. Maarten just before the hurricane and the owner’s wife has a son who used to fly with LIAT and is now flying in Russia. He told me that his company lost a pilot in St. Vincent because he lost an engine on this type of aircraft – an Islander. He said an aeroplane cannot fly on one engine. ‘I told him listen: stop right there! Let me tell you: I am a living experience. I flew an aeroplane with a load on one engine.’ He said: ‘No!’ I said: ‘I asked him: How do you mean No? I am talking to you. I am alive and talking to you.” Whether or not Mr. Connor was a daredevil pilot, he stressed that “having a licence does not make a person a pilot.”
Mr. Connor pointed out that it is the experience that counts and that it is important for a pilot to have some technical or mechanical experience – and not simply licenced to fly an aircraft.
A very passionate address was delivered by Mr. Cardigan Gumbs who regrets that Valley Air Service no longer exists. No doubt thinking about Captain Clayton Lloyd’s dedicated service, the challenges the airline encountered and the tragic incidents that occurred, contributed to his sadness. He was further emotionally moved when Mr. Lloyd’s daughter, Lisa, presented him with a plaque and declared him to be ambassador for the former airline.
Mr. Connor was presented with a plaque and a framed painting of the late Captain Lloyd by Ms. Odessa Gumbs, one of Cardigan Gumbs’ daughters; and Mrs. Evadney Richardson, was also the recipient of a plaque, presented by young Cheone Thompson, granddaughter of Mr. Derick Thompson and an aspiring pilot. Mr. Thompson served as one of the pilots of Valley Air Service over the years.
It was a moving event which was felt even greater when a number of aircraft zoomed overhead, tipping their wings in a dramatic salute to Mr. Connor, the late Captain Clayton Lloyd and the former Valley Air Service.
